Thank you again and always…

 

‘Tis the season of thankfulness.  Not that we should wait during the rest of the year to say, “Thank you”, but certainly November and December remind us of our blessings, don’t you agree?  So before going any further - permit me to say, “Thank you”!

Thankfully, I am blessed with family, friends, clients and colleagues who enrich my life beyond count.  Thankfully, smart people have put counting in the proper perspective: 

Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted. 

Albert Einstein 

Thankfully, I have readers who accept my periodic posts and reciprocate with responses of appreciation towards my little ditties.  

I can’t count all that I am thankful for; nor all of the times I have wanted to thank someone for their kindness.  But I am thankful for sure.  I’m thankful for living in Denver – most of the time anyway: 

Welcome to Denver: 

The morning rush hour is from 5:00 to 10:00 AM. The evening rush hour is from 3:00 to 7:00 PM.  Friday's rush hour starts on Thursday.

Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere.  Denver has its own version.  The car or truck with the loudest muffler goes next at a 4-way stop.  The truck with the biggest tires goes after that.  Blue-haired, green-haired, or cranberry-haired ladies driving anything have the right of way all of the time.

North and South only vaguely resemble the real direction of certain streets.  University and Colorado are two boulevards that run parallel.  Geometry evidently not working at altitude, these streets intersect south of C470.

Highway 285 runs North, South, East and West and every direction in between; it can be found in every section of the Denver area making navigation very interesting.  You can turn west onto southbound 285; you can turn north onto westbound C470; and you can drive southeast on the Northwest Parkway.  This is why Denver uses the additional driving directions of “out”, “up”, “in”, “down”, and sometimes “over”.

Construction barrels are permanent, and are simply moved around in the middle of the night to make the next day’s drive more challenging.  When you see an orange cone, you must stop and then move ahead slowly until there are no more cones.  There need not be construction, just cones.

If someone has their turn signal on, wave them to the shoulder immediately to let them know it has been accidentally activated.

If it’s 70 degrees, Thanksgiving is probably next week; if it’s snowing, it’s probably the weekend after Memorial Day.

If you stop at a yellow light, you will be rear-ended or cussed-out.  A red light means four more cars can go through.  Not three; not five.  Four.  Never honk at anyone.  Ever.  Seriously.  Never yield at a “Yield” sign.  The yield sign is like an appendix; it once had a purpose but nobody can remember what it was.

Just because a street on the east side of town has the same name as a street on the west side of town doesn’t mean they’re connected.  

Unknown Sage 

Thankfully, we will spend time with family, friends, food, and fun with a little football during the Thanksgiving holiday.  We will take a few quiet moments to reflect on all we have to be thankful for, too: 

Thank you Lord.  I may never have a lot; but I have always had enough. 

Gary A. Pokorn 

Thankfully, we can still give thanks this Thanksgiving. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Low hanging fruit…

I was in a sales training session recently; the sales trainer kept using the phrase "low hanging fruit”.  He was referring to where sales reps could "easily find" sales.  That same phrase was used during a new product roll-out session I also attended recently.  It seems like new product roll out meetings, sales training sessions, team rallies all now include reference to finding the low hanging fruit. 

In my day, we called it a "bluebird".  When a deal unexpectedly landed in our lap that we closed without much effort, it was a bluebird.  I don’t remember bluebirds being referenced in sales training sessions or product roll-out meetings though.  I do know relying on bluebirds or low hanging fruit to make your quota is the quickest path to looking for your next job. 

Will Kenton wrote in Investopedia about the origin of the term low hanging fruit and its adoption in modern business and sales circles (link). 

Lindsay Kolowich Cox affiliated with HubSpot (primarily a marketing automation platform) offered this in her blog: 

A "bluebird" is a sale that came seemingly from nowhere or with unexpected ease. A sales rep might say, "Fortunately, a bluebird flew right in at the end of the quarter, helping me reach my goal." 

She goes on to suggest, that bluebirds are probably responding to marketing campaigns. 

I don't know if this easy path encouragement is the result of today’s social media pundits; the converging of sales and marketing disciplines; generational; or what.  But it seems I now hear low hanging fruit as if it has become a new selling strategy vs. merely a stroke of luck. 

I ask you, do you benefit often from easy, unearned, outcomes in your profession?  How are we all doing with our lottery purchases?  I suppose everybody has benefitted from a bluebird on occasion, but certainly not frequently enough to build a career on, let alone making the mortgage payments month in and month out, true? 

If my experience and opinions are closer to the reality of average working men and women in the sales profession, then who is continuing to spread this appeal to go forth and seek low hanging fruit? 

Can it be originating from people on the fringe who are "involved" but not "committed" to producing results?  You know the old saying about the ham omelet – the chicken is involved, but the pig is committed. 

Perhaps it's common for folks to under-appreciate the time and effort others have invested to master their trade.  Harry Beckwith reminds us things are usually not that easy: 

A woman was strolling along a street in Paris when she spotted Picasso sketching at a sidewalk café.  Not so thrilled that she could not be slightly presumptuous, the woman asked Picasso if he might sketch her and charge accordingly. 

Picasso obliged.  In just minutes, there she was: an original Picasso. 

"And what do I owe you?" she asked. 

"Five thousand francs," he answered. 

"But it only took you three minutes," she politely reminded him. 

"No," Picasso said.  "It took me all my life." 

Suffice it to say that every time I hear someone directing me to where they believe I should easily find a sale, I wonder why - if capitalizing on "low hanging fruit" was so easy – this person isn’t taking on a sales quota, moving to a commission-based compensation plan, and going after said fruit themself? 

Now, where’s that bluebird when I need one… 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

 

To our cowboys …

 

I blogged once about being yourself, costumes, and self-improvement.  I said for Halloween that year I wore an American Cowboy costume to my wife’s Halloween party.  I also confessed that I’m no cowboy.  

I’m fascinated by cowboys and the traditions of the American West.  Businesses executives and leaders in this country could make things better for all of us if more of them heeded the advice found in one of my favorite books (and a source for more than a few quotes when writing these little ditties) Cowboy Ethics © by James P. Owen: 

I have come to realize that anybody can make money; it is much harder to make a difference. 

The book was a gift from a client of mine from several years ago, Steve Major.  Working for Steve made a difference in my life.  His leadership ethics made a positive impact on the lives of many other people that worked for him, too. 

My son Kevin continues to make a difference in my life.  We are celebrating his birthday this coming Saturday – I thought you might like this present I gave him a few years ago.  This is the opening to chapter seven in my book, The Peace & Power of a Positive Perspective©.  Enjoy! 

Chapter VII:  Cowboy Up – You’ll Get Through It! 

Dedicated to the American Cowboy – may we all learn to be more like them.  

Now, I’m no cowboy; but I know one. 

Cowboys are quiet, polite - men of few words; comfortable just listening while others around them bark at the moon nonstop. 

No, I’m no cowboy; but I’ve heard one. 

Cowboys have a reserve of strength far and above the average person – physical strength to be sure; but also great emotional strength. 

I’m definitely no cowboy; but I’ve seen one. 

Cowboys have the ability to remain in control even while every living thing around them, man and beast, spooks in mortal fear.  

True, I’m no cowboy; but I’ve been protected by one. 

Cowboys remain focused even with adrenaline rushing through their veins when they’re bull riding, or racing flat out, one-handed on horseback, to rope an escaping calf. 

Yes, I’m no cowboy; but I’ve lived with one. 

Cowboys are fearless especially at the age of 15 when they look down in the shoot and prepare to mount a bare back bucking bronco at their very first high school rodeo competition. 

Absolutely, I’m no cowboy; but I’ve filmed one looking down that very shoot. 

Cowboys always believe they can.  The cowboy feels that sigh of relief when he’s all twisted up in the dirt, having fallen off a stumbling horse and the rodeo announcer comes on the PA system and says, “Well folks, he’ll have an option for a re-ride.” 

So, I’m no cowboy, but I’ve sat next to his Mother in the stands when we heard that rodeo announcer come over the P.A. System to say, “Well folks, he’ll have an option for a re-ride.” And as the announcer glanced down to the stands to see her reaction he quickly added, “But his Mother says NO!” 

You see, I know a lot about cowboys.  That’s why I’m so sure I’m not one.  No, I’m no cowboy, but my son Kevin is.  And every day I try to be a little bit more like him. 

Yes, American cowboys are still among us.  My son Kevin is one of them.  Happy birthday Kevin!  I love you, Dad. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

I wish…

I am blessed to have my children and grandchildren in my life.  Both of my sons and two of my three grandchildren live nearby.  Someday they may all venture out on their own.  But for now, I get to see them throughout each week.  I know about their school; their jobs; their friends. 

Like other grandfathers I try to be supportive; I try to make myself available to offer them guidance; transfer a little knowledge; maybe a piece of wisdom or two.  I’m not sure how interested they are in what I have to share.  I think that is the case throughout the generations.  Who was it that said: 

            Hire a teenager while they still know everything 

When I was growing up, I never knew either of my grandfathers.  I never even met them.  I did know my wife's maternal grandfather.  However, I never invested the time to engage in a deep, adult conversation with him.  He was a successful entrepreneur.  When he sold his jewelry company, he had made enough and saved enough to live comfortably for almost 40 years.  He also witnessed life during the Great Depression among other world, national, and everyday events, but I never asked him to share his knowledge. 

My Father-in-Law served in the Navy during World War II; he was stationed in the south pacific theatre.  But I never persuaded him to tell me about his experiences; I never talked with him about "a day in the life" when every day in his life was at risk back then. 

Even my own father lived during historic times; he was in the Army Air Corps, which preceded today’s Air Force; the "Baby Boom" era; the 1960s Civil Rights movement; the Vietnam War... but I never had an extended conversation with him about what he learned; what he knew; what I should know. 

Maybe my life was too focused on me, on my own opinions, on my own needs. Sounds similar to the criticisms we place on today’s Millennial Generation doesn't it?  Maybe every generation is critical of the previous: 

"What's your opinion of my idea?” the brash young man asked his boss.  “It isn't worth anything”, said the boss.  “I know”, conceded the young egotist, “but give it to me anyway.” 

Unknown Sage 

Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, a nineteenth century, French writer (that’s a few generations ago!) is credited with saying: 

The more things change, the more they stay the same

Today, I try to be that father; that grandfather; even a mentor at my company and in my profession.  Very few are interested in what I have learned.  In my profession (if not in my family), I've always tried to credit others who taught me.  I mean, I graduated in the bottom half of my college class, so you know I didn’t succeed without a lot of help from others. 

I wish I had talked with my fathers and grandfathers.  I wish I had learned more from the generations that preceded mine.  I wish I could pass along more knowledge; more wisdom; more of the life lessons I have learned to the generations that are following mine. 

I wish they were more interested in learning: 

To know that you do not know is the best 

Lao-Tsu 

The older I get, and the more knowledgeable and accomplished I become in my field, the more I realize how smart my elders actually were. 

I wish I could tell them that. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

What’s that Buzzing?

 Ah yes, buzz words – how wonderful!  Although I’m in the technology sales profession which is fully stocked with acronyms; buzz words; and technospeak...  I bet whatever career field you’re in you too have bountiful bundles of buzz words, true? 

When you think of our terminology in the technology field, including platform designations, product features, and company names, the amusement is abundant.  I think technology may only be surpassed by pharmaceutical companies.  Where do they come up with those hard to pronounce and impossible to spell drug names! 

Today – let’s poke fun at my profession starting with Rick Levine’s observation: 

Since Appian was first a famous Roman highway, you'd think this might be a clue to Xymos' new identity.  But the release says; 

“Appian was chosen for the name because it represents the ability to use leading edge technology and innovation, integrated into solutions that provide differentiation and competitive advantage.” 

Just what the Romans had in mind. 

I heard a Goodwill Industries radio commercial the other day asking a salesperson to donate an old business suit.  It included many buzzwords from a list that was elaborated on in this post: http://www.growwire.com/tech-buzzwords 

          Pivot   360-degree view   Disrupt

Actionable Insights   Sync Up   Holistic Approach

Leverage  Open the Kimono   Circle Back   

Deep Dive   Visibility   Core Competency

Buy-In   Growth Hacking   Silos   Hustle   

Unicorn   Agile   Bandwidth   Innovation

Digital Transformation 

Do any of these buzzwords find their way into your emails; texts; conversations; or meetings?  I mean, if you don’t have the bandwidth today we could circle back later, do a deep dive to leverage a more holistic approach, open up the kimono and reach actionable insights.  Wait… what? 

Of course, businesspeople who come up with this jargon in the technology field take their buzzwords seriously.  What… wait… can I use “buzzword” and “seriously” in the same sentence?  But I digress… 

In the book The Challenger Sale ©,  the authors published this top 10 list of Buzzword / Marketing Speak / Overused Term.  

What do you think?  When someone is speaking with you and they start to string together buzzwords, does that impress you? 

Maybe it’s a generational thing?  Lord knows, I have to pay extra attention to my younger colleagues.   When I’m having a verbal discussion, they speak unbelievably fast.  I’m peddling as fast as I can just to keep up.  When I’m engaged in a written exchange they add to the buzzword challenge their own “netlingo”!  Their abbreviated imagination BTHOOM.  

I don’t know; are we all so busy these days that our only way of communicating has been reduced to buzzwords; shortcuts; acronyms; and netlingo?  Seems to me that such digital transformation will inadvertently disrupt our ability to understand one another.  George Bernard Shaw in his book Managing Conflict in the Workplace © puts it this way: 

The problem with communication, is the illusion it has taken place. 

You tell me… is our society today increasing the mastery of the English language and in so doing improving our level of communication and corresponding understanding?  Maybe we’re simply waiting for the robots to take over communications on our behalf.  Computers talking to computers… hmmm… would such growth hacking make things for we humans better?  Or worse? 

And as such innovative initiatives evolve, who would be the innovator, the program or the programmer?  The question may deserve a 360-degree view before we all hustle to buy-in to this agile, solution to a new, improved and unique way of thought exchange. 

Where is Spock’s Vulcan mind meld when we need it? 

GAP 

Did you like this little ditty?  You might enjoy my past posts too: www.TheQuoteGuys.com

High School Sweethearts…

Fall; October; football; high school; Homecoming – do you remember your first high school sweetheart?  High school is a very special and memorable time for teenagers; it certainly was for me.  And I always enjoyed the autumn season when I was in high school – Homecoming; Halloween; dating; parties (most chaperoned, some not). 

Fifty years ago, this very time of the year, I asked the prettiest girl in my high school out on a first date.  I guess it went well enough because here we are fifty years later, and I’m still awe-struck by the glow of her beauty.  

I hope you enjoy this opening to Chapter XII True North, of my book, The Peace & Power of a Positive Perspective © as much I enjoyed writing it: 

Dedicated to… a crisp night in October; with a slight breeze blowing through bare trees – waiting for the coming winter.   Close your eyes.  Can you smell remnants of autumn leaves burning?  

To winning the homecoming football game.  To being carefree. To a Saturday night party at the teenager’s house whose parents are away.  Can you hear the kids having fun in the kitchen; the basement; and the backyard, all to the beat of the Rolling Stones?  

To couches, blue jeans and sweaters.  To the floor lamp reflecting on her blond hair making it shimmer with silvery streaks of light.  To the nervous small talk of a teenage boy in the presence of a varsity cheerleader.  To the patience of the teenage girl sitting on the couch with the captain of the varsity basketball team.  Can you remember when you could actually hear your heart throbbing? 

To throw pillows, which come in handy when the small talk runs out – what else can a young boy do?  And to playful pillow fights; which lead to gentle wrestling and ultimately to that first kiss. Remember how delicate she felt in your arms – the hint of her perfume – the taste of her lips? 

To first dates – dinner and a movie.  To the movie Catch 22 and the Oriental Theatre in downtown Chicago.  To dating the prettiest girl in your high school; to falling in love; to asking her father’s permission for her hand in marriage.  Were you ever so nervous? 

To the tears welling up in my eyes even as I write this short memoire.  To all those emotions; all the happiness; all those hopes and all those dreams; some fulfilled, some yet to be; and all that I can remember today as if it just happened yesterday – that I will remember everyday, as long as I live.  How can someone be so lucky? 

To 1970 - and that Saturday night in October in Elmhurst where I kissed Debbie for the very first time.  And to the friend’s house whose parents were out – to their couch, their floor lamp, to their throw pillows; and to the Rolling Stones music.  Can you imagine being so young, so infatuated, and so in love?  

I still am.  

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective. 

Diversity & Disagreement…

Talk about the unstoppable force and the immovable object …  We are witnessing this paradox in many elements of our society today, true?  It’s not that diversity and disagreement are anything new.  But the levels of today’s intensity are something I’ve not witnessed in recent memory. 

I believe diversity and disagreement are inseparable.  It’s navigating through the tension that exists in between these that matters.  Today, our skill and ability to manage this tension is being severely tested, don’t you agree? 

Shay & Margaret McConnon in their book Managing Conflict in the Workplace © put it this way: 

I see you as wrong.  You see me as wrong.  We are both right. 

Simple; direct; accurate?  Yes.  But it’s not that we disagree.  Diversity by definition involves disagreement, doesn’t it?  It’s how we think about disagreement that matters. 

College football coaching legend Paul, “Bear” Bryant put it this way: 

Over the years I've learned a lot about coaching staffs and one piece of advice I would pass on to a young coach or corporate executive or even a bank president is this; Don't make them in your image.  Don’t even try.  My assistants don’t look alike, think alike, or have the same personalities.  And I sure don't want them all thinking the way I do.  You don't strive for sameness, you strive for balance. 

From the virtual conference rooms to the streets of our cities, diversity and disagreement are reaching a fevered pitch unseen since the civil rights movement and the Viet Nam War of the 1960s.  Finding balance is indeed becoming elusive. 

Coincidently, “sameness” dominated a business meeting I attended.  I don’t know if sameness is good or bad.  Personally, I’ve always liked a good argument.  To me, disagreeing over the  diversity of ideas is intellectually fulfilling and helps me learn.  Unfortunately, disagreeing without being disagreeable is a challenge I’ve failed too often.  Still learning! 

Recently, our global team met and one of the topics we discussed was the diversity among the various individuals on our team.  Like other teams in business, ours is global in nature; a mix of age, gender, experience, etc.  And yet, during the 4-hours of meeting time not a single person (sadly, myself included) offered one word of disagreement.  Not one word. 

Setting the environment for a meaningful discussion that includes both diversity and disagreement is a leadership skill: 

Alfred Sloan, Chairman and CEO of General Motors for years was in a Board meeting about to make an important decision.  He said, “I take it that everyone is in basic agreement with this decision.”  Everyone nodded.  Sloan looked at the group and said, “Then I suggest we postpone the decision.  Until we have disagreement, we don't understand the problem.” 

I’m not qualified to speak of solutions to our national (and international) conflicts grounded on diversity and disagreement.  I don’t fully understand the problems. 

It has been a blessing to learn how to look at my world through the lens of a sales professional.  I am amused (and somewhat dismayed) in comparing selling to current events.  The lens of a sales professional enables us to seek common ground with a potential customer. 

Sales professionals learn to look beyond race, religion, gender, age, political preferences, and the like.  Instead, we focus on completing a successful transaction with our soon-to-be-customer.  Interestingly, successful sales transactions often lead to successful business relationships in spite of diversity. 

If only the world were so easy! 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.